(Bloomberg) -- A new divide is emerging in finance as bankers around the world return to their desks after months of lockdowns during the pandemic.
In one corner, firms like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are making clear their determination for staff to return to the office. Other banks, including Nomura Holdings Inc., Citigroup Inc. and a variety of European lenders, have sketched out more flexible policies. This chart shows how firms are dividing.
This snapshot of what some banks have communicated so far is expected to evolve as the pandemic does. Group-level announcements may also obscure differing approaches in local offices, as well as in the variety of teams at each firm that can realistically switch to remote work permanently.
But a divide is getting clearer. JPMorgan’s Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon repeated his desire for busy offices at a recent conference, saying that remote work doesn’t work “for those who want to hustle.” The bank has followed through on his comments with plans for the entire U.S. workforce to return to offices, on a rotational basis, starting this month.
But one bank’s aberration is another’s chance to upend long-running practices -- and perhaps give it a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining top staff.
Standard Chartered Plc is wasting no time rolling out formal hybrid working agreements to its 85,000 staff globally, while 80% of staff are now on flexible contracts that combine office and home work, according to a spokesperson. It’s also slashing about a third of its office space.
Others are less exacting on where and when staff will be back. Citigroup has laid out a philosophy of flexible working, saying it will promote inclusion and retention -- yet CEO Jane Fraser said at an online event last week that almost everyone will be expected to maintain some sort of presence in the workplace.
| Bank | Highlights of Remote-Work Policies in Development |
|---|---|
| BNP Paribas | Some bankers to remote work two days one week, three days the next week. |
| Citigroup | Most roles designated as hybrid, where workers are in the office at least three days a week. |
| Credit Suisse | Switzerland employees can decide how much time they want to spend outside the office. |
| Deutsche Bank | Staff to work from home up to three days a week. |
| HSBC | French staff can decide between occasional remote working, with as many as 30 days per year of remote work, or frequent remote work with eight or 12 days per month at home. |
| Societe Generale | Bankers can work from home up to three days a week. |
| UBS | Up to two-thirds of employees to mix remote and office work. |
| UniCredit | Non-branch employees to work from home 40% of the time. |
Choosing a time for these moves is also dividing firms. In the U.S., Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley have written off the summer for major changes, saying instead that desks should be occupied by September. They are counting on the of office culture for staff, particularly younger employees looking to build their networks and skills.
Continental Drift
Banks have long grappled with imposing corporate culture across timezones, which is now complicated by the gulfs between Covid-19 caseloads and restrictions globally. London-based staff at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan aren’t all following their American colleagues into the offices yet, after the U.K.’s “freedom day” from restrictions was postponed until at least July 19.
“Every region is experiencing things differently and at a variety of paces,” said Allison English, deputy chief executive officer of workplace research firm Leesman.
Firms with headquarters in Europe are generally further along the spectrum than their U.S. rivals in favor of flexible policies. UBS Group AG, UniCredit SA and Deutsche Bank AG have already unveiled hybrid working models, though the latter is letting each team set their balance of home and office time.
Shanghai Scenes
Asia, too, offers a variety of models.
In Shanghai, the world’s first major financial hub to grapple with and later tame the virus, nearly all of the 360,000 finance professionals have been working from the office for more than a year, even though they continue to face temperature scans and contact tracing. Similar scenes are playing out across China and there are no flexible work plans at domestic banks, insurers and brokerages.
In Japan, Nomura CEO Kentaro Okuda has unveiled plans for employees to work a minimum of 40% of hours in the office each month, with departments to have discretion within that limit.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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